The Big Eden

Documentary

Rolf Eden is Germany’s last playboy. As ‘king of disco’ he launched the first beauty contests popularising DJing and striptease in prudish West Germany. Father of seven children of seven different women, he has danced with the Rolling Stones and Ella Fitzgerald in his clubs. Rolf Eden is a larger than life octogenarian with long, blond hair… his girlfriend is younger than his grandchild. It is not only his eccentric glitzy lifestyle that continues to irritate as much as it humours the public; the real provocation derives from his militant cheerfulness:

“My whole life I was lucky. That’s true. One hundred percent. I was only ever lucky, no downs, no hick-ups, never any real trouble, only up, up, up until today“

This unflinching conviction was essential for Eden when he, coming from a Jewish background, entered the German entertainment business of the 1950s. Leaving Israel via Paris, he returned to post war Germany to open a nightclub on West Berlin famous Boulevard Kudamm, decidedly blocking out the country’s recent dark history.
Can you really be a hedonistic egoist and get away with it in the end? Is it even possible to enjoy the sweetness of life without recognising its bitterness?